• Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Democrats to introduce legislation to expand Supreme Court by four seats

Chelsey Cox and Lita Nadebah Beck, USA TODAY
·3 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

WASHINGTON — Democrats will introduce a bill to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices, Rep. Mondaire Jones said Wednesday night.

Jones, D-N.Y., said in a tweet that he is introducing the Judiciary Act of 2021 with Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and Hank Johnson, D-Ga., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.

"Our democracy is under assault, and the Supreme Court has dealt the sharpest blows," he wrote. "To restore power to the people, we must #ExpandTheCourt."

Nadler, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said during a Wednesday meeting of the committee that an announcement would be made Thursday.

The move comes less than a week after President Joe Biden unveiled plans for a bipartisan commission to study possible changes at the Supreme Court.

More: Three Supreme Court justices tackle U.S. partisan divisions in public remarks

The proposal to expand the court came up Wednesday night during a long-anticipated Judiciary Committee hearing on a bill to examine reparations for the descendants of slaves.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, interrupted a spirited back and forth between committee members about H.R. 40 to ask about

a report by The Intercept on congressional Democratic plan to introduce a bill to expand the size of the Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices. The Ohio congressman used his speaking time to ask Democrats in the room to confirm the story.

Other Republicans followed suit and spoke about the potential for "court packing."

It soon led to a request for an amendment denouncing an increase in the size of the court.

"The amendment says any appeal should be heard and decided by a chief justice and eight associate justices," Nadler said. "This bill is not the proper forum for debating this subject."

"You guys are going to do it. You're going to do it. And it is scary, and it is wrong, and the country understands that," Jordan said.

More: Supreme Court leaves major conservative cases waiting in the wings, from abortion to guns

Nadler eventually allowed a vote on the amendment, but it did not gain enough votes for approval.

The committee voted to advance H.R. 40, legislation dating back to 1989 that would establish a committee to study reparations for unpaid slave labor, to the full House.

The push for change at the Supreme Court, where conservatives now have a 6-3 advantage, has put a squeeze on the White House. Throughout the campaign, Biden hedged when asked whether he supported expanding the court, though he allowed in October that he was "not a fan of court-packing."

'Think long and hard': Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer pushes back on 'court-packing'

Progressive groups have been pushing for a number of ideas other than increasing the number of justices. Those include term limits, set perhaps to 18 years; a code of ethics; a more formal process for recusals; and an expansion of lower courts, not only to offset the barrage of Trump appointees but also to deal with growing caseloads.

However, legislation to expand the Supreme Court would face an uphill battle in the evenly divided Senate.

Contributing: John Fritze

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court expansion: Democrats to introduce bill to add 4 justices

Recommended Stories

  • Tucker, Judge Jeanine slam Democrat 'lunacy' over plan to pack Supreme Court

    FOX News hosts react to breaking news that Congressional Democrats will introduce a bill to expand court by four justices on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight'

  • Browns make near-history with Jadeveon Clowney signing

    Adding defensive end Jadeveon Clowney to a Browns team with Baker Mayfield and Myles Garrett gives Cleveland a ton of first-overall picks.

  • Browns now have 10 first-round draft picks on the roster

    With Jadeveon Clowney, a 2014 first-round pick, reportedly joining the Browns, the city that will host the 2021 draft now has 10 first-round picks on the roster. The other nine first-round picks on the Cleveland roster include receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (2014), tackle Jack Conklin (2016), defensive end Myles Garrett (2017), quarterback Baker Mayfield (2018), [more]

  • Catholic church, private schools sue to change SC Constitution over COVID relief funds

    The lawsuit calls for removing the very amendment in the state constitution that bars South Carolina from using public funds for the direct benefit of private and religious schools.

  • Hawley, Marshall two of six senators who oppose bill to curb anti-Asian hate crimes

    Cruz, Cotton, Paul and Tuberville also voted against the measure.

  • Martin Truex Jr. will start first at Richmond

    Truex got his second win of the season at Martinsville on Sunday.

  • Smartmatic says Fox News shouldn't have journalism protections in defamation lawsuit over election conspiracy theories

    Smartmatic's $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit goes after Fox News over conspiracy theories that it rigged the 2020 election against Donald Trump.

  • John Boehner reveals he voted for Trump in 2020

    Former House Speaker John Boehner revealed that in the 2020 election, he voted for former President Donald Trump, whom he would later blast for inciting a "bloody insurrection." Boehner has recently been promoting his new memoir On the House, and he told Time in an interview published Tuesday that he backed the former president for a second term last year, citing his Supreme Court picks and their agreement on policy issues. "I voted for Donald Trump," Boehner said. "I thought that his policies, by and large, mirrored the policies that I believed in. I thought the choices for the Supreme Court were top notch. At the end of the day, who gets nominated to the federal courts is really the most important thing a president does." The revelation came after Boehner didn't hold back against Trump in his book for his actions after the 2020 election, blasting the former president's "bulls---" election fraud claims and saying he "incited that bloody insurrection for nothing more than selfish reasons." Boehner also recounted a time when his staffer was berated by Trump during a golf outing before he became president, with Boehner writing that the incident revealed Trump's "real anger" and adding, "we had no idea then what that anger would do to our country." Boehner also told Time he views Trump as a "product of the chaos we've seen in our political process over the last 10 or 12 years." But when asked if he wishes in retrospect that he had done more to push back on Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election, Boehner said he didn't feel the need to do so. "I'm retired," Boehner said. "I try to stay out of the day-to-day rumble of politics. I really didn't need to speak up." More stories from theweek.comScalise says GOP will 'take action' if DOJ moves ahead with a case against GaetzThe girl at the center of the Matt Gaetz investigation also reportedly went on his scrutinized Bahamas tripThe GOP's economic confusion

  • Pfizer vs. Moderna Memes: The Gag Is Vaccine Elitism Shouldn’t Exist

    Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve had memes to explain, critique, and immortalize every moment and hot take. We’ve shared memes about how coronavirus restrictions apparently only apply to certain people and even memed the then-president’s COVID diagnosis. In true season-finale fashion, Pfizer and Moderna each produced their own very impressive COVID-19 vaccines, in record time. This story was originally written as a reading of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines as joyful artifacts that spread a message of hope. But a lot has changed since November. The first set of memes from late 2020 made light about the ridiculous choices of capitalism. A potential immunization against a virus that’s killed 200,000 Americans is great news. Having to choose between two major pharmaceutical companies’ offerings, one of which was developed thanks to Dolly Parton’s sponsorship, feels absurd. pfizer vs moderna… a classic jacob vs edward choice— mikaela (@okmikaela) November 17, 2020 Can’t wait for @wirecutter to tell me which vaccine to take.— Sachin Agarwal (@agarwal) November 16, 2020 Now that the vaccines are growing widely available and more options are introduced, the vaccine meme landscape is shifting. Under capitalism, the brands you choose define who you are and are an indication of what you have access to. And while which vaccine you get may still often be dictated by what’s available near you, we can’t help but assign personalities to each vaccine: Pfizer vaccine receivers are generally described as elite, original flavor, and classic. Moderna vaccine recipients are thought of as an alternative, slightly off, but valued for their existence. @thefamousjet This is a joke lol. Get the first vaccine you can‼️ #covid #vaccine #pfizer #moderna ♬ Rude Boy Klean Remix Vs Niska Seb Sander mix – Seb Sander @joshomz Pfizer just sounds expensive… The Bougiest vaccine right? 💅 ♬ original sound – joshomz Lastly, Johnson & Johnson recipients often get cast as independent, weird, and suspicious. I’m calling it now, though: Surely as the day develops and people catch on to the latest news regarding the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, we’ll start seeing memes that questionably employ Nene Leakes “The Ghetto” monologue. @melissanacional Reply to @eve.schifman 😏 ♬ original sound – Melissa Nacional Not even this value-neutral breakdown of each vaccine’s personality is free from this thinking. If something – even if it’s a life-saving vaccine – is branded, the brand will become a huge factor in any decision made. And now that vaccination is growing widely available, what was once a Sophie’s Choice situation can split the vaccinated population into the haves and have-nots. @m4cklin Which one r u? ♬ original sound – macklin Of course, vaccine efficacy cannot be reduced to a single percentage number. The important thing is to get fully vaccinated. Yet… there’s something about getting that extra percentage point in efficacy rate to make you feel as strong and protected as possible, if only in your mind. But no matter which jab you received, just because you got vaccinated doesn’t mean the summer of 2021 is going to be a movie. And there is a new meme just to remind you of just that. Being vaccinated does NOT mean it’s ok to make a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter— Tim K. (@uncle_poppers) April 7, 2021 Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?We Earned The Four Seasons Total Landscaping MemesThe Unexpected Winner Of The Election? Gritty!When Will We Actually Get A COVID-19 Vaccine?

  • Afghanistan: 'We have won the war, America has lost', say Taliban

    A BBC team meets the Taliban, a group that clearly sees itself as Afghanistan's government-in-waiting.

  • House, Senate Democrats plan to add 4 justices to Supreme Court: Report

    FOX News host Shannon Bream reacts to the breaking news on 'Fox News Primetime'

  • Bangkok nightlife clusters expose Thailand's virus stumbles

    When Thailand's transport minister was recently diagnosed with COVID-19, it was Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha who got a headache. Prayuth was not particularly lauded for his leadership last year against the coronavirus, but for much of 2020 Thailand fought the disease to a standstill, with low infection and death rates envied by more developed countries. Now, an outbreak at nightspots in the capital Bangkok has sent new infections surging, suggesting the country may have been lulled into a false sense of security before mass vaccinations begin.

  • Prince Harry Is Having a Very Weird Week Back in the U.K.

    Chris Jackson/GettyHis grandfather’s funeral isn’t until Saturday, but this is shaping up to be, even by his extravagant standards of non-normalcy, a pretty extraordinary week for Prince Harry.As he sits in splendid isolation in Frogmore Cottage, Harry could be forgiven if his head is spinning.The lavishly restored period property into which he and Meghan moved just 24 months ago, and dreamed of making their home, now houses his cousin Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack and their baby. The tenants are still there, and the owner is holed up in what was once intended as Doria Ragland’s (Meghan Markle’s mom) self-contained apartment, The Daily Beast understands.Prince Harry and Prince William’s Feud Rumbles on as They Issue Dueling Statements on Philip’s Death He is literally just a few miles away from Windsor Castle, but if he has spoken to his father or the queen, no-one is saying so. And this despite the fact that, bizarrely, Her Majesty carried out an official duty Tuesday, overseeing the retirement of one of her senior aides, recorded thus by the official court circular: “The Earl Peel had an audience of The Queen today, delivered up his Wand and Insignia.” (Was Earl Peel was ordered to leave his wand on the desk on the way out?).We do know, courtesy of the Telegraph’s well-briefed correspondent Camilla Tominey, that Harry has spoken to his brother Prince William on the phone since he landed back in the U.K.This hardly seems like a great triumph in the arena of conflict resolution.We already know from Gayle King that other phone calls between Harry and his brother and father have taken place. King said they were regarded as “not productive.”If you love The Daily Beast’s royal coverage, then we hope you’ll enjoy The Royalist, a members-only series for Beast Inside. Become a member to get it in your inbox on Sunday.There is, frankly, no suggestion from royal aides that being in the same time zone has helped mend fences, no sense of joyous white smoke going up from Frogmore or 140 miles north at Anmer Hall, where William and Kate are rather pointedly spending the last days of the Easter holidays with their children, rather than waving at Harry from the garden of Frogmore Cottage like some of us might be inclined to do.Tominey touts Kate as taking on the role of fraternal peacemaker, quoting a source as saying, “Being so close to her own siblings, Pippa and James, and having witnessed first-hand the special bond between William and Harry, [Kate] has found the whole situation difficult and upsetting.”But while hopes of a major reconciliation between Harry and his family are being talked up by commentators, the reality on the ground is that expectations are at rock bottom. Emotions are strained and the wounds inflicted by Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey are still raw. The media may have moved on; the family will never forget what, as they see it, was Harry’s betrayal of them. There are also the unanswered questions over the identity of the royal family member who allegedly questioned the color of the then-unborn Archie’s skin, and who allegedly stopped Meghan being able to access help when she was feeling suicidal.There has been much wishful thinking this week that the death of their grandfather will bring the brothers together. Physically, of course, it will. They will walk side by side behind Philip’s coffin, recreating the tragic cortege they formed behind their mother’s coffin in 1997.This was, coincidentally, at Philip’s urging. The brothers were said to be reluctant to walk behind their mother’s coffin at her funeral but Philip took charge telling them, “I’ll walk if you walk.” Harry said years later that he was grateful for his grandfather’s guidance.But piecing together the tatters of Harry’s relationship with the royal family will be no easy task. Many of the 29 other royals attending the funeral on Saturday will feel the same way as one friend of the family who, The Daily Beast reported, said this week: “Philip was already seriously ill when the interview screened. He was 99, so the fact that he has died is of course very sad, but hardly surprising. His death may put things into perspective, but I’m not sure it really changes anything.”The logistical constraints imposed by the pandemic are unlikely to help; if they are remotely like any other family, one imagines the brothers need to have a frank, face to face discussion at a certain level of decibels to clear the air. But having arrived back in the U.K. on Sunday afternoon, Harry is not likely to be allowed to exit quarantine until the day of the funeral. Harry’s people have made it clear he will be following Covid quarantine rules to the letter.If Harry doesn’t already feel like he has gone through the looking glass, the curious apparent rehabilitation of Prince Andrew should do it.The first sign of this development came when Andrew, who has failed to make himself available to the American authorities for questioning over his links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, winkled his way back on to TV screens at the weekend.He told a camera outside church that his mother was feeling a “huge void” in her life; it still hasn’t been established if his intervention was authorized. It seems hard to believe even Andrew would be stupid enough to do something like that if it wasn’t, as some briefing has suggested.Dan Wootton, the journalist who broke the news that Harry and Meghan were leaving the U.K., reported in the Daily Mail that sources had told him: “Prince Andrew might hope that this sad situation changes things, but Prince Charles is adamant there is no way back while allegations hang over him. He spoke on camera in a private capacity because this is a family event. No one can stop him doing that.”Neither the palace nor an advisory firm retained by Prince Andrew responded to inquiries from The Daily Beast on that question.Until today it looked as if Andrew was set to be allowed to wear military uniform to the funeral, the only question being whether he would be in the garb of a three-star vice admiral (his current rank, which was never removed from him when he was fired from the family as a working royal), or actually be promoted by his mother to a four star admiral, an elevation that was due to take place last year but was put on hold. The Daily Mail reported that he was lobbying hard to be awarded his overdue promotion.Harry is the only male member of the family not technically serving, so was thought to be the only male royal attending the funeral not in military uniform. There is nothing more integral to the royal family’s sense of its own legitimacy than its military associations, and Harry’s happiest days were spent in the army. Harry was forced to give up his captaincy of the Royal Marines along with all other military associations when he stepped back from life as a working royal, a defenestration that he has made clear he considers utterly unfair.According to The Sun on Wednesday, to spare Harry's blushes—and lots of embarrassing questions about Andrew—the queen has stipulated that no royals should wear military uniform at Philip’s funeral. A military source told The Sun: “It’s the most eloquent solution to the problem.” Another source confirmed that “current thinking is no uniforms.”Buckingham Palace and the Sussexes declined to comment to The Daily Beast for this article.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Rep. Liz Cheney denounces Biden's 'reckless' Afghanistan decision

    'You don't end wars by announcing that you're leaving,' Wyoming Republican tells 'Your World'

  • Biden says it's 'time to end America's longest war' as he reveals plans to bring US troops home from Afghanistan

    Biden said he was the fourth president to preside over the Afghanistan conflict, adding: "I will not pass this responsibility on to a fifth."

  • Mysterious goat appears in Death Valley National Park. That’s bad news, rangers say

    You shouldn’t see a goat during your visit to the park, rangers said.

  • Pelosi says she thinks Chauvin trial is 'disappointing': 'Maybe my disappointment springs from my expectation that these are our protectors'

    The House Speaker said she still respects law enforcement officers, and she stamped down calls, even within her own party, to "defund the police."

  • Popular NC teacher killed trying to rob Mexican drug cartel member, sheriff says

    The teacher was found dead in a mobile home in Alamance County believed to be a cartel drug stash house.

  • Adults vaccinated for COVID can gather safely, but can kids join in? What experts say

    It will likely be several months before kids under 16 will become eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.

  • Endangered tiger cubs make first public appearances at zoo

    Cubs from two subspecies of endangered tigers made their public debut on Wednesday at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Amur tiger cubs named Luka and Anya were born at the zoo in December. A Malayan tiger cub named Indrah was also born in December at a zoo in Tulsa, Oklahoma.